Thai Tax Laws for Expats: the Practical Implications versus the Realities

[KhunHeineken]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You never know until you know.

As you say, This is Thailand, and as I say, they have foreigners by the b*lls here. 

 

They don't want you to "know."  They want you on a string, like a puppet, so at any time of their choosing, they can make you dance. 

 

No problem for me to do 179 days in Thailand, should they seek to screw me.  Others are not so lucky to have such freedom of movement, but they made their choice and ill have to live with it.  Something I am sure the Thai's will take advantage of. 

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

As you say, This is Thailand, and as I say, they have foreigners by the b*lls here. 

 

They don't want you to "know."  They want you on a string, like a puppet, so at any time of their choosing, they can make you dance. 

 

No problem for me to do 179 days in Thailand, should they seek to screw me.  Others are not so lucky to have such freedom of movement, but they made their choice and ill have to live with it.  Something I am sure the Thai's will take advantage of. 

Well I'm not at your level of paranoia but certainly if you fail to comply with what we know now is technically the Thai tax system hoping they aren't serious, you are making yourself potentially vulnerable to bad things happening later.

[KhunHeineken]

11 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Well I'm not at your level of paranoia but certainly if you fail to comply with what we know now is technically the Thai tax system hoping they aren't serious, you are making yourself potentially vulnerable to bad things happening later.

No paranoia here. 

 

Thailand is an unstable, 3rd World Country.  I have always known my stay here could end at any time, through no fault of my own.  It's as corrupt as f**k here. 

 

That retirement visa / extension is nothing more than a 12 month tourist visa. 

 

I already had a Plan B escape even before I started living here full time.

 

Unfortunately, for many who are on more than just a pension, the cost of staying in Thailand appears to be going up, by way of this tax, or, they leave for 6 months of the year.   I feel many will be facing a tough decision in the future.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, KhunHeineken said:

No paranoia here. 

 

Thailand is an unstable, 3rd World Country.  I have always known my stay here could end at any time, through no fault of my own.  It's as corrupt as f**k here. 

 

That retirement visa / extension is nothing more than a 12 month tourist visa. 

 

I already had a Plan B escape even before I started living here full time.

 

Unfortunately, for many who are on more than just a pension, the cost of staying in Thailand appears to be going up, by way of this tax, or, they leave for 6 months of the year.   I feel many will be facing a tough decision in the future.

Well our views are actually pretty close. 

Of course retirement extensions can never bring residence security. I'm also big on plan b and plan c and plan d.

Happy travels.

[RSD1]

6 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

The numbers have been crunched, and crunched, and crunched, several times in the past.

 

Most pensions from around the world go over the threshold, meaning, there will be some tax to pay, however small, but some tax to pay, should the whole pension be remitted every month, government service pensions aside, which many DTA's seem to exempt. 

Sorry, I should've added some caveats to my previous posts.
 

The 210,000 tax-exempt threshold I have been talking about applies to single individuals under 65. For those over 65, higher deductions apply, as they qualify for additional exemptions. Married individuals also benefit from higher deductions.

 

However, retirees living on an overseas pension and transferring it monthly into Thailand are likely to exceed the annual tax-exempt limits as you noted.
 

While the general threshold of 210,000 I gave is also a useful guideline, actual exemptions will vary based on age, marital status, and personal circumstances.

[Presnock]

14 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

There are limits to what accounts OECD via CRS has access to.

 

For example:

 

In the Canadian agreement with OECD it is quite clear that information on Canadian government regulated accounts for individuals (ie registered Canadian tax free accounts for money growth such as RRSPs, RRIFs and some others) are NOT reported to OECD  via CRS, and Canada is under no obligation to provide such to OECD.

 

Thailand has a similar agreement for Thai government regulated accounts of individuals.  

 

That may be a mute point - but I thought it important to make the observation that all information on all accounts is NOT provided via CRS to OECD.

excellent information as some of us only know about our own govt regs so ignore what others might be looking for or provide something that is not universal in response to a question!

[KhunHeineken]

12 hours ago, RSD1 said:

However, retirees living on an overseas pension and transferring it monthly into Thailand are likely to exceed the annual tax-exempt limits as you noted.

Yes, that's what I said. 

 

Members from various countries have posted their country's pension amounts, and then some pretty common set of circumstances, such as, being married and over 65 years of age, and the result was if there to remit all of their pension on an annual basis, they would have a tax liability.  

[KhunHeineken]

16 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Well our views are actually pretty close. 

Of course retirement extensions can never bring residence security. I'm also big on plan b and plan c and plan d.

Happy travels.

Given that western pensions go over the threshold, not unlike many taxes all around the world, it seems to effect the people who can least afford it the most.  

 

As I have said in the past, "a little out of a little can be a lot for some people."  Pensioners may have to adjust their lifestyle, and budget for this tax bill every year, going forward.

 

The high net worth individuals may just pay it, but could vacate for 6 months, depending on their thoughts about this tax, rather than its affordability. 

 

It's the people in the middle that will be interesting.  They bring in more than a pension, but are not a high net worth individual.   Many could be in that "zone" of viewing this tax as a rip off, or, the tax goes a long way towards paying to live 6 months outside Thailand anyway, so why not leave? 

 

2025 is a test year for this.  We will have more official and unofficial data on what demographic decided to do what in 2026. 

 

Interesting times ahead. 

 

 

[Scouse123]

On 1/24/2025 at 4:06 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Immigration Officer:  "Do you have certificate from TRD?"

 

Expat:  "No."

 

Immigration Officer:  "Must have certificate from TRD to make extension.  You go TRD first."

 

Expat:  "Ok."

 

All it would take is the order to come down from Bangkok, and another document would be needed at extension time.   A lot easy to implement than tourist tax.  

 

No real "communication" needed between the departments.  Just tell one department a certificate is now needed from the other department.  As I have said, they have expats by the b*lls and they know it. 

 

No real "ifs and buts" about it.  It's a no brainer for the Thai government.  The certificate from the TRD will be like the bank document.

 

I would be interested to know how you propose to get around the above? 

You do your way, I'll do mine.

 

Show me one place where it says tax will be linked to retirement extensions?

 

Show me.

 

You are just surmising, what makes you an expert?

[Scouse123]

Mass hysteria by a load of AN expat " TAX" experts on a gossip forum with bugger all else to do except repeating and regurgitating pure conjecture.

[Scouse123]

On 1/24/2025 at 4:06 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Immigration Officer:  "Do you have certificate from TRD?"

 

Expat:  "No."

 

Immigration Officer:  "Must have certificate from TRD to make extension.  You go TRD first."

 

Expat:  "Ok."

 

All it would take is the order to come down from Bangkok, and another document would be needed at extension time.   A lot easy to implement than tourist tax.  

 

No real "communication" needed between the departments.  Just tell one department a certificate is now needed from the other department.  As I have said, they have expats by the b*lls and they know it. 

 

No real "ifs and buts" about it.  It's a no brainer for the Thai government.  The certificate from the TRD will be like the bank document.

 

I would be interested to know how you propose to get around the above? 

 

 

Have you never seen how quick the Thai government reverses its policies?

 

They don't have expats by the balls, and they know it, hence DTV visas and anything to keep you coming instead of you moving to other SE Asian countries.

 

A load of clowns on here saying our money is a drop in the ocean blah blah, Thai government will survive and don't care, so why are they introducing DTV visas etc  to try and keep you?

[KhunHeineken]

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

You do your way, I'll do mine.

Sure, but what we both need to do, like it or not, is the Thai legal way. 

 

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

Show me one place where it says tax will be linked to retirement extensions?

I can't, but never said I could. 

 

For me, and many others, we see the "link" is the easiest, quickest, cheapest, and most effective way to force foreigners into a TRD office.  Surely you agree with this.  It's perfect for them.  

 

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

You are just surmising, what makes you an expert?

I have never claimed to be an expert, and I am not "surmising" I am predicting, and I'm not the only one to put it forward. 

 

From Day 1 when the news broke of this tax, I was one of the first ones, if not the first, to say they will use foreigner's need for visas / extensions to assist with enforcing their tax policy.  I said it then, I say it now, and I stand by my prediction.

 

Why are you so confident they will not "link" the two? 

[KhunHeineken]

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

Have you never seen how quick the Thai government reverses its policies?

I've always said, Thailand is an unstable, 3rd World Country, so yes, I have seen some back flips. 

 

How many policies have they reversed that sees them lose money?  

 

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

They don't have expats by the balls, and they know it, hence DTV visas and anything to keep you coming instead of you moving to other SE Asian countries.

The DTV was just another visa class.  What's your point?

 

10 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

A load of clowns on here saying our money is a drop in the ocean blah blah, Thai government will survive and don't care, so why are they introducing DTV visas etc  to try and keep you?

Simple.  Attract or keep a foreigner, means you keep their money in the Thailand economy, and keep their tax, including VAT.

 

Money Number One.  Why do you think they announced going for this tax if they knew they couldn't do and make a baht out of it?  

 

You asked me in another post, "show me one place where is says tax will be linked to retirement extensions."  

 

Can you show me one place where it says all of this tax policy will just go away and retired expats will not have to do anything?   

[RSD1]

On 1/25/2025 at 4:57 PM, KhunHeineken said:

Given that western pensions go over the threshold, not unlike many taxes all around the world, it seems to effect the people who can least afford it the most.  

 

As I have said in the past, "a little out of a little can be a lot for some people."  Pensioners may have to adjust their lifestyle, and budget for this tax bill every year, going forward.

 

The high net worth individuals may just pay it, but could vacate for 6 months, depending on their thoughts about this tax, rather than its affordability. 

 

It's the people in the middle that will be interesting.  They bring in more than a pension, but are not a high net worth individual.   Many could be in that "zone" of viewing this tax as a rip off, or, the tax goes a long way towards paying to live 6 months outside Thailand anyway, so why not leave? 

 

2025 is a test year for this.  We will have more official and unofficial data on what demographic decided to do what in 2026. 

 

Interesting times ahead. 

 

 

Yes, interesting times ahead and it will be amusing to see how all of this actually plays out, whether or not the laws are rolled back at some point, whether many people leave or not, etc. 
 

But the high net worth individuals probably won't end up paying any tax regardless of what happens. That's because they are capable of setting up sophisticated legal structures to avoid paying tax whereas the smaller guy in the middle may not have the resources to create the same setup so easily. 

[KhunHeineken]

1 hour ago, RSD1 said:

Yes, interesting times ahead and it will be amusing to see how all of this actually plays out, whether or not the laws are rolled back at some point, whether many people leave or not, etc. 

It will be amusing for some, tears for some, and a shock for some, but I am sure this tax policy has something for everyone.  

 

1 hour ago, RSD1 said:

But the high net worth individuals probably won't end up paying any tax regardless of what happens. That's because they are capable of setting up sophisticated legal structures to avoid paying tax whereas the smaller guy in the middle may not have the resources to create the same setup so easily. 

That's true of citizens, all around the world, the problem for farang in Thailand is, we are not citizens, and remit our money.  Link it to extensions and Cha-Ching. 

 

Of course, there's no way the Thai's would link it for enforcement purposes.  They are two separate departments and don't communicate with each other.